Student Leaders

Congratulations to the new student leaders! The leadership positions were announced at last week’s assembly and most of them have already started working in their various roles. We have several senior students appointed as Peer Mediators, a new leadership role that is coordinated by Bu King. There will be more details about these positions and roles in later newsletters.

School Council Elections

A gentle reminder that the closing date for nominating to be on the School Council is Friday 25^th February. There are 3 parent vacancies.

Nomination forms are available at the office. You can either nominate yourself or have another parent nominate you.

Participation on School Council is a great way to be actively involved in your child’s learning!

Girls and bullying 

by Michael Grose

Bullying is a word that’s wrapped in emotion. For many people bullying is associated with bad childhood memories. It’s been estimated that around 40% of people has experienced some type of bullying in the past.

The ghosts from the past are never far away for parents and can sometimes influence the way we react to current circumstances, including when our own children experience difficulties in their relationships inside or outside school.

Bullying is an insidious behaviour that transgresses children’s natural right to feel safe and secure. It can adversely affect their learning, emotional well-being, further peer relations and their sense of self. Bullying takes many forms and guises including physical and emotional abuse, intimidation, harassment and exclusion.

It now has a well-publicised cyber-dimension, which has moved the goalposts for many kids. In the past children could escape bullying behaviours they may have experienced by being at home. Cyber-bullying now means that kids can’t escape the bully like they once could.

Bullying should not be confused with teasing, rejection, random acts of violence or physicality and conflict. While children will often tease or fight, this bickering should not be confused with bullying.

Girls bully just as much as boys but they do it in less physical ways. While boys use physical intimidation or verbal abuse to wield power, girls are more likely to use exclusion or verbal sarcasm to assert themselves.

What’s bullying about?

Bullying is about lack of power as one person is powerless to stop the teasing or physical abuse. Bullying is the selective, uninvited, repetitive oppression of one person by another person or group. It should not be tolerated or practised by the adults who inhabit their world.

If you think your daughter is being bullied, then handle her with care as many girls don’t want to admit that they are on the receiving end of bullying. Some girls keep it to their chest so it helps to be on lookout for warning signs such as: items being stolen, changing the route to school and withdrawal from usual activities.

If your daughter is being bullied:

• Remain calm: This is so hard as your emotions can easily escalate into anger. But your daughter needs you to remain unemotional so she can talk with you and feel safe.
• Listen to her story: Children who are bullied need someone to believe their story. Take them seriously and avoid dismissing complaints as tell-tale. Use common sense to differentiate between bullying and more random, non-selective ant-social acts. Girls can be nasty too each other, yet this doesn’t constitute bullying.
• Deal with their feelings: A child who is bullied probably feels scared, angry and sad. While boys are more likely to act out and display anger, girls are more likely to act in feeling sad and depressed. Recognise and validate their emotions. It’s normal to feel sad, scared or just plain confused.
• Get the facts: Get a clear picture of what happens, including who is involved, the frequency and what happens prior to any bullying. Get your daughter to be as specific as possible by asking good questions. An accurate picture will help you determine your next course of action.
• Give them coping skills: With a clear picture you can start giving your child some help about how the or she may deal with bullying including using avoidance strategies, being more assertive and changing body poor language.
• Get the school involved: Bulling is best handled when parents and teachers are involved. Some parents tell me that schools can be reluctant to become involved. From my experience, schools take bullying very seriously and go to great lengths to support and empower those on the receiving ends and look for ways to change the behaviour of bullies. Approach your school through the appropriate channels, make yourself aware of your schools’ anti-bullying procedures and programs, and be willing to work within these guidelines.
• Help build your daughter’s support networks: Your daughter will need a group of friends to support her and insulate her against further social exclusion so look for practical ways to broaden friendships groups.
• Build her self-confidence: Nothing saps a girl’s confidence like bullying so provide your daughter with plenty of encouragement and loving support. Let her know through your words and treatment of that she will get through this difficult period in her life.

It’s worth remembering that children who experience some form of bullying often come out stronger and more resourceful because they have experienced difficulties and they know they can defeat them.

regards

Ken & Lisa

                                  

On 26 November 2015, the Victorian Parliament passed the Child Wellbeing and Safety Amendment (Child Safe Standards) Bill 2015, which amended the Child Safety and Wellbeing Act 2005 to introduce the Child Safe Standards that would apply to all organisations involved in child related work in Victoria.

There are 7 Child Safe Standards which are compulsory minimum standards for all Victorian schools, to ensure they are well prepared to protect children from abuse and neglect. The 7 Standards are:

1. Strategies to embed an organisational culture of child safety, including through effective leadership arrangements
2. A child safe policy or statement of commitment to child safety
3. A code of conduct that establishes clear expectations for appropriate behaviour with children
4. Screening, supervision, training and other human resources practices that reduce the risk of child abuse by new and existing personnel
5. Processes for responding to and reporting suspected child abuse
6. Strategies to identify and reduce or remove risks of child abuse
7. Strategies to promote the participation and empowerment of children.

Bonbeach Primary School is committed to child safety and to our children being principled, caring, balanced members of our community. We are committed to the safety, participation and empowerment of our children and have zero tolerance of child abuse. All allegations and safety concerns will be treated very seriously and consistently. We have legal and moral obligations to contact authorities when we are worried about a child’s safety, which we follow rigorously. The school is committed to regularly training and educating our staff and volunteers on child abuse risks and all staff undertake Mandatory Reporting training.

We support and respect all children, as well as our staff and volunteers, and are committed to the cultural safety of children from diverse backgrounds, and to providing a safe environment for children with a disability.

Bonbeach Primary School has the following Policies and documents in place to meet the Child Safe Standards:

• Child Safe Policy
• Child Safe Responding and Reporting Policy (including mandatory reporting)
• Child Safe Code of Conduct for Staff and Volunteers
• Statement of Commitment to Child Safety
• Volunteers Policy
• Working with Children’s Checks Policy
• External Providers Policy

All of the above policies and documents are regularly reviewed and updated in line with our policy review schedule. These policies are available on our school website. All of these documents can be found on our website under the ‘Child Safe’ tab and the policies can also be found under the ‘Policies’ tab. We encourage all families to familiarise themselves with these documents.

Hi, I’m Mrs Robyn Keeley and I am teaching Performing Arts to the students here at Bonbeach Primary School. It has been an exciting start to Performing Arts this year with all the students immersing themselves in Music, Drama and Dance activities.

GRADE PREP

The Prep students are becoming familiar with terms such as High, Low, Loud, Soft, Fast and Slow.  They are using their voices, body movements and musical instruments to demonstrate their understanding of these concepts.  They are also learning to listen to the beat, moving and dancing in time with the music.  They are participating in role play, acting out the parts for the songs they are singing or the books we read in class. Next term, they will begin learning their parts for the P-2 Junior Production.

GRADES 1/2

The Grade One and Two students have also been familiarising themselves with Pitch (high and low) and the terminology associated with Tempo (the speed of the music).  The students have enjoyed playing characters from the ‘story’ songs that are based on fairy tales. They will begin to explore reading, writing and playing simple music notation.  They will begin to play simple music pieces on tuned instruments whilst following a theme on ‘stars’.  Next term, grades 1 & 2 will also begin learning their parts for the P-2 Junior Production.

GRADES 3/4

The Grade 3 & 4 students have been learning about ‘The Nutcracker’ which is a wonderful children’s story that was later converted into a ballet.  The music for the ballet was composed by Pyotr Tchaikovsky in 1892. The students have been learning the song ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’ and playing instrument parts to accompany the song.  The students will look at mime and how stories can be told without words, and that stories are also told without words in ballet too. They will learn the music, the characters, the dances from The Nutcracker, and present their own creative dance and drama based on the storylines of this ballet.

    

GRADES 5/6

The Grade 5 & 6 students have been playing drama games and have enjoyed expressing emotions through games and role play. They were a bit shy at first, but they are starting to really engage in the activities and some real talent is starting to come out.  Grade 5 & 6 students are also learning to play ukulele.  They are learning correct technique for chord formation and strumming and are singing along heartily as they play the songs.  The students will discuss what makes us Australian and will begin to form ideas for writing their own song about Australia.

             

Congratulations to all the students in grades three to six who participated in the swimming trials at Mentone Girls Grammar School last week. We had 53 students try out on the day. A big thank you to Ms Roolker and Mrs Mullavey for acting as judges and the parents who came and supported and cheered on the students.     

The team of 28 has now been finalised, and will compete at the District Swimming Sports on next Friday 4^th of March. Consent and Payment have gone out on Compass this week to students who made the team.

Congratulations to all that tried out and good luck to the following students at district:

                Lydia. F                 Bridget. K         Ava. C             Renny. M

                Leo. G                    Griffin. D           Kai. G              Charlie. S

                Frank. B                Isabella. C        Indya. G          Gemma. M

                Kailani. A              Lachlan. C        Mia. C                Sophie. L

                Summer. J            Taylor. S            Van. L              Emma. B

                Judd. H                  Lucas. L             Rowan. S         Liam. D

                Neve. Z                 Annika. L           Jackson. R        Will. H                               

-Mr Mac.

corey.mccormack@education.vic.gov.au

My name is Debra Jennings, and I have been teaching at Bonbeach since 2003. It was such a small school when I arrived; there were seven teachers and only 120 students!!!!

When I was a little girl, I didn’t always listen to my teachers. My family spent a year in Iowa, USA. The winters are very cold there, and I loved playing in the ice and snow at playtime. My teachers told me to NEVER put my tongue on the frozen monkey bars – but did I listen? NO! I ended up stuck fast to a pole!

I still love travelling and have been to all the states in Australia and many different countries over the years including Peru, Easter Island, UK, New Zealand, Indonesia and Thailand. I can’t wait until we can continue our adventures – there are so many wonderful places to explore.

How long have you worked at Bonbeach?  
I have been a teacher at BPS for seven and a half years. Before that, I was the outside hours care coordinator here.  
 What is your role at the school?  
This year, I am a 5/6 teacher for the first time. I am also the Excellence in Teaching and Learning coordinator and Wellbeing team coordinator. 
 What is the most rewarding part of your job? 
I love learning – funnily enough! There isn’t a day that goes by in teaching that doesn’t push you to learn more, provide a challenge to solve or an opportunity to try something new. You are constantly learning and growing, and I find that really fulfilling.  
What is your ideal way to unwind and relax? 
Sitting with friends in a nice café, a coffee in hand.
When you were little what did you aspire to be?  
A school principal – watch out Mr. Jones!  
What was your favourite subject at school?  
English, I really enjoyed writing in particular – and still do to this day.   
What tv or podcasts are you right into at the moment?  
Not one for the students, but I listen to Casefile every week. I don’t really watch too much on T.V!
What is your favourite sport to watch or play?  
Surely the whole school knows this one… Football (soccer).
Do you play a musical instrument?
Guitar – so long as it’s a Taylor Swift song! I can also play piano and a bit of percussion.
What is your favourite book/ movie/ song/ food? 
Book: Animal Farm, Movie: The Fast and the Furious (all of them), Song: Taylor Swift (Red Album), Food: Pink Finger Bun
What’s your favourite holiday destination? 
Japan
Do you collect anything? 
Lego (much to my bank accounts detriment)  

How long have you worked at Bonbeach? 
I have worked at Bonbeach for about 1.5 years.
What is your role at the school?  
I am a Prep Teacher.
What is the most rewarding part of your job?  
I get to spend every day with some amazing little humans who teach me as much as I teach them. There isn't a day where I don't laugh and smile.
When you were little what did you aspire to be?  
I used to spend hours playing teachers with my younger sister, teddy bears and dolls acting as my students - I loved school and always wanted to be a teacher. I was so studious I use to make up my own projects to complete during the school holidays.
What is your favourite sport to watch or play?  
I grew up in a sports loving family so played many different sports when I was younger, including dancing, touch footy, volleyball and sailing, however, netball is the one that I have continued playing into adulthood. I love watching all sports which is probably because there was always some form of sport on the TV! Being from Sydney, I support the NSW Swifts in the netball, Wests Tigers in the NRL and the Sydney Swans in the AFL.
Do you have any pets?
I have a puppy toy cavoodle whose name is Alfie. He will be turning 1 at the end of February. He loves going to the beach, eating chicken and stealing our socks!
If you could choose to be anything for a day, what would it be? 
I have always wished that I could sing - I always try my best but no one has ever enjoyed my singing. I would love to be a singer for a day and be on stage at my own concert...which would be exactly like a Kylie Minogue concert with lots of dancing and costume changes.
If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be? 
I honestly would eat potatoes for the rest of my life! I love potatoes any way they come - hot chips, mashed, roasted, boiled...
What’s your favourite holiday destination? 
I have two favourites - one overseas and one in Australia. My favourite overseas destination would have to be Positano in Italy, eating all the delicious Italian food and swimming in the Mediterranean. Where I love to holiday in Australia is Kingscliff in Northern NSW, soaking up the warmth and swimming in the ocean.

How long have you worked at Bonbeach? 
I have worked at Bonbeach for a very long time. I think that there might be one other person who has worked here longer than me.
What is your role at the school?  
This year I am very excited to be in Grade 1 and 2 again. I will be able to see all my grade 2 friends from last year and make new friends with the new grade 1 students.
What is your ideal way to unwind and relax? 
There are two different ways that I like to unwind. My very favourite way is to read my book while sitting in the sun. My second favourite way to relax is to walk around the streets near my house, looking at all the beautiful flowers in the gardens.
When you were little what did you aspire to be?  
I have always wanted to be a teacher. I used to play school all the time with my dolls and teddies. I would teach them songs to sing and how to read.
Do you have any pets?
If you have ever been in my grade before, you would know that I have 2 crazy dogs at home. Their names are King and Marly. Even though they are not related, they look exactly the same (except King is twice the size of Marly).

How long have you worked at Bonbeach?
Since 2014
What is your role at the school? 
3/4 teacher
What is the most rewarding part of your job? 
Building relationships with the students.
What is your ideal way to unwind and relax?
Exercise and reading books.
What is your favourite sport to watch or play? 
I love watching tennis but cannot play very well.
Do you have any pets?
I have 10 year old greyhound called Luna
If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Anything breakfast related. It's my favourite meal of the day. 
If you were a super-hero, what powers would you have?
To be able to fly.
What’s your favourite holiday destination?
Anywhere hot with a beach.

We have had a very busy few weeks starting school. Its great seeing all our old faces back, and welcoming new students into the service.

Inside we have been keeping busy by being very creative, using the loose parts found on the art trolly, we have had little dolls made from beads and pipe cleaners, dragons and lanterns made from paper and lots of drawing and painting. We have also been working together to make marble runs.

Outside we are loving the play equipment, swinging  on the monkey bars, and hanging from the rings. Tennis has been a huge hit, hopefully me may see some Bonbeach students playing in the Australian open one day. We have lots of fun actives planned for the upcoming weeks talking about our Pets we are also going to have lots of fun with Dr Seuss week.

Opening Hours:                                              

BSC: 7am – 8.45am

ASC: 3.30pm – 6.00pm                 Service Coordinator: Louise Whyte

E-mail us:

Bonbeach@theircare.com.au

Call us:

+61 439 392 221